Celebration of the 5th International Day of Yoga in Tehran

Embassy of India

Tehran

Celebration of the 5th International Yoga Day 2019

The 5th International Day of Yoga was celebrated with enthusiasm and larger local participation in Iran under the aegis of the Embassy of India. The IDY-2019 programme on Thursday, 20th June 2019 in the Chancery Hall was the concluding ceremonial of the series of ‘Yoga Week’ events observed at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC), Embassy of India, Tehran, since 13th June 2019.

Thursday, 20th June 2019 : IDY-2019 Ceremonial

The ceremonial function of the IDY-2019 was presided by H.E. Mr. Gaddam Dharmendra, Ambassador, and attended by the prominent members of the Indian community and Iranians. The participants included 14 leaders/teachers of local Yoga Studios/Centres in Tehran, and yoga trainees at SVCC, besides members of the Indian Mission.

The programme commenced with the presentation of the Message of Hon’ble Prime Minister for Yoga Day and circulation of its Farsi (Persian) text to the participants.

The Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr. Devesh Uttam, introduced the importance of Yoga as an intangible heritage of humanity, and recalled the declaration of the International Yoga Day by the UN in 2014.

The Protocol Yoga practice was followed by the group presentations of the artistic Yoga formations, and a lecture on the theoretical aspects of the Yoga and its supportive Sattavik dietary habits.

The Ambassador dwelt upon the significance of Yoga that was discovered in India millennium ago, free of any religious bias, is today, a mode of living acceptable world-over for its own merits. Yoga was practised in all nations and the International Day of Yoga has formally brought it on a unified global platform. He stressed the necessity of “healthy living, good life-style, good diet” as “fundamental to holistic well-being of any individual.” “Once an individual is well, comfortable and at peace with himself, we shall have a greater contribution to global peace,” he said. He emphasized the good relations between Iran and India have grown stronger over last few years and asserted that Yoga is “one element” that has contributed to that. He appreciated the interest of Iranian Yoga-enthusiasts and called upon them to learn further each year.

Yoga Week Events (13th June to 19th June 2019):

The events of the yoga week included Yoga Asana Competition (Hata Yoga), Pranayama Session (Raja Yoga), Yoga Teacher Workshop (Jnana Yoga) and Artistic yoga performance competition (Kriya Yoga). There were about 211 active local participants for all the week-long events.

IDY-2019: Curtain Raiser event (12.05.2019)

The curtain raiser event for the IDY-2019 was an Ashthanga Yoga Workshop organized for 96 local Iranian participants, with the resource person as Acharya Shashi Kumar from Mysore (India) on 12th May 2019.